


Does Armitage Dream of Kylo Ren?

by rudbeckia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Extremely Dubious Consent, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Murder, Replicants, Torture, bladerunner au, dubcon, dystopian au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:50:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16774489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Snoke runs a corporation that manufactures replicants. Kylo Ren is tasked with determining whether Snoke’s latest assistant, Armitage Hux, is replicant or human.Kylo performs the standard series of tests on Hux to measure outward signs of emotional responses. Hux appears to display the expected range of emotions, yet Kylo feels nothing from him until he deviates from standard questions and lets Hux turn the tables on him.As Kylo gets to know Hux better, he is less and less sure of what it means to be human.Until suddenly he realises he doesn’t know Hux at all.Chapter 1 art bywildfang on twitter





	1. Does he like dogs?

The head of Snoke Corporation lounged on an armchair in the corner of the cavern-like office. “There’s someone I want you to meet. Kylo Ren, this is Armitage.”  
Head tilted down, Kylo watched from under a curtain of dark hair as a man entered the room, marching across the polished floor with his boots making regular soft slaps on the hard surface. He stopped a few feet away. Kylo shook his hair from his face and gave the man an open stare.  
“You will test your methods on this man. My assistant.”  
“Is he a replicant?” Kylo asked, voice too loud as if he wasn’t sure if he’d be heard. The other man’s head came up, eyebrows raised in scorn or surprise.  
“Isn’t that for you to find out, Mister Ren?” he said. Snoke laughed, a wheezing painful sound. Kylo felt something inside him stir at the new man’s clipped tones and familiar but foreign accent. “My name is Armitage Hux,” he said. No handshake was offered. Kylo tightened his lips and swallowed. He gave a tiny nod and Snoke slipped out of the room.  
“Very well. Armitage, please sit over there.”  
“I would prefer it if you call me Hux.”  
“Hux,” said Kylo with a shrug. “Please sit.”

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/139039409@N06/45978881114/in/dateposted-ff/)

Hux sat at one end of the conference table. Kylo took his place opposite, opened his laptop and connected the external camera, focusing closely on Hux’s impassive face. He fussed with the settings for a moment while admiring the quality and depth of Hux’s eye colour. The greens and blues of Hux’s irises merged with greys as he glanced around the room.  
“Hold still please. Look straight ahead.”  
The colours settled to a pale sea green with a hint of steel. Kylo took a snapshot for reference.  
“How long do I have to stare at the wall?” said Hux, a hint of irritation in his snapped words.  
“Almost calibrated,” said Kylo, focusing a second camera on Hux’s lips. Hux’s lower lip vanished into his mouth for an instant then reappeared, whitened by being dragged across too-perfect teeth then blooming a deeper shade of rose. Kylo felt his heart beat faster. He closed his eyes for a second and inhaled. He would do this. Whatever his id screamed, his superego would make the smart decisions.

Cameras and microphone set, Kylo sat back. “So,” he said to Hux. “Describe your childhood.”  
Hux blinked. Kylo was recording, but he watched Hux’s pupils dilate then narrow to pinpoints.  
“My mother was a kind and beautiful woman driven to an early grave by my bully of a father. I had everything a child could want except affection. How about you?”  
“My father was a scoundrel,” said Kylo. “But this interview is about you, not me. Tell me about your seventh birthday.” Kylo heard Hux take a sharp breath in and watched his eyebrows lower, shading his eyes to deeper greys. Yet he felt nothing of Hux’s emotional state.  
“Seventh. My family had just moved house. My father chose to move while I was in hospital for minor surgery, the kind some children need I suppose, and I was afraid that he wouldn’t come for me. I’d seen old people in another part of the hospital and I was afraid that I would have to live in the ward forever until I, too, grew old and died in a pale blue, floral nightgown.”  
“But you didn’t.”  
“No,” said Hux. “I survived hospital and was brought to a strange house. It was summer but it was dull and raining. On my birthday I sat cross-legged in the centre of the living room and cried because I had no friends to sing to me.”  
Kylo paused to look up at Hux. Hux had pink blooms over his cheekbones and he blinked.  
“Go on?”  
Hux looked down then back across at Kylo. “There’s no more to tell. I unwrapped my gifts. I remember I got a purple bicycle that was too big for me and there was a party attended by my father, my stepmother and my grandfather. And my younger half-brother. There was chocolate cake.”  
“Is that a nice memory?”  
Hux shrugged. “We had moved less than a mile from the old house but it felt like another city. My father sold the bicycle to a neighbour two weeks later because it was a waste of money since I never learned to ride it.”

Kylo saw the blotches on Hux’s cheeks spread and darken, and he recorded the shifting patterns within those mesmerising eyes. He felt anger build from deep within himself, but Hux remained as calm as if he’d been discussing whether to order the cabernet or the merlot with dinner.  
“Tell me about your first funeral.”  
Hux threw his head back in a sudden bark of laughter. Kylo looked up in surprise at the sound. Hux’s emotions remained steady despite his outward display of emotion.  
“It was Brendol. My father. I was not sorry to see him go.” Hux paused to dab at his eyes with a paper tissue. “Excuse me.”  
“Continue when you are ready.”  
“My father was the kind of man who confused strength with intimidation.”  
“Did your father intimidate you?”  
“Of course,” replied Hux. “I was afraid of him when I was a child. I resented him as a young adult. And once I knew how, I killed him.”  
“You killed your own father?” Kylo felt his stomach drop and his pulse rise although Hux’s heartbeat remained steady. “You’re confessing that to me? On camera?”  
Hux leaned forward. Kylo used the camera controls on the screen to track to his new position. Drawn brows, pinpoint pupils, bared teeth behind pale, thin lips. All for show as far as Kylo could sense.  
“Why not, Ren? Either I’m a replicant, in which case I never had a father to murder, or I’m human and you can’t touch me. Aren’t you supposed to have powers that let you tell replicants from humans? Well then. Tell me what I am and have done with it.”

Kylo frowned back at Hux’s snarl. Hux held eye contact for several uncomfortable seconds until Kylo returned his attention to his recording equipment. He sucked his lip and swallowed.  
“Sit back, please, and we will continue. You are walking along the street. You are in a hurry to get to an appointment. It is a hot day and you see a dog shut in a car. The dog is panting and whining. What do you do?”  
“What kind of a question is that? Are you trying to decide whether I’m a replicant or a monster?”  
“Answer the question, please. The car is in full sunlight and you can see the heat haze from it.”  
“I take a brick and I break the fucking window. I now have a dog.”  
Kylo nodded and pulled his lips into a thin line. “You are in a bar—“  
“With my new dog? Didn’t I have an appointment to get to?”  
Kylo flicked his gaze across to see Hux looking at him, taunting him.  
“No. There is no dog and no appointment. You are in a bar. You are having a quiet drink and a man starts talking to you.”  
“Is he hot?”  
“What?”  
“The man in the bar. Is he attractive? Is he the sort of man I might want to talk to me?”  
Kylo looked across at Hux again. The slight sneer on his lips had slipped into a smirk.  
“Would you like that?” retorted Kylo, then he remembered his purpose and returned his attention to the close ups of Hux’s eyes and mouth on his screen. The shift in focus did not help his concentration. “Okay, a tall, dark-haired man approaches your table and asks to sit.”  
“Is he muscular?”  
“If you like.”  
“Hmm,” Hux raised his chin a little and the cameras tracked the tiny movement. “Dark hair, thick and wavy like yours?”  
Kylo stared at the dilation of Hux’s pupils and the sliver of white teeth between pink lips. “If you want it to be,” he said.  
“Does he like dogs?”

Kylo scraped his chair back and stood up. He could feel Hux watching him in silence as he paced the room, back and forwards twice. Hux had shown all the outward signs of annoyance, scorn and anger, yet the emotional response Kylo detected from him was muted.  
“How tall?”  
Kylo turned at Hux’s voice to see grey-green eyes following him. He forced his face to relax out of a scowl.  
“I mean, I’m tall,” Hux said. “Is my mystery man taller than me?” Hux stood slowly. “I wonder.”  
Hux walked towards Kylo. Kylo held his ground and stood up straight, letting Hux walk right up to him. “I think he has an inch over me, maybe.” Hux took one more step into Kylo’s personal space, standing so close Kylo imagined he could feel the scant warmth radiating from Hux’s pale skin as his eyes, now thin rings of steel around fat, black pupils, stared unblinking into his own. Kylo could not look away, and the sudden spike of desire from Hux was unmistakeable.  
“I think,” said Kylo, words barely above a breath, “he is—“

“Have you reached a conclusion, Mister Ren?”  
Kylo took a hasty step back as the voice blared out from hidden speakers. “Ah. Not yet. I would like to extend the test. Gather further data in a range of settings.”  
Snoke shuffled into the room again and sank onto his chair. “Should I report that your methods are ineffective?”  
“You wanted a thorough test of my methods.” Kylo glared at Snoke. “Allow me to spend more time studying Hux and I will reach the correct conclusion.”  
“Then bring him to me as soon as you are satisfied,” said Snoke.  
“I will, sir.”  
Snoke sneered at Kylo.  
“I was talking to Armitage.’


	2. One Two Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see end of chapter notes for warnings

Kylo packed away carefully while Snoke watched in silent judgement and Hux excused himself, reappearing as Kylo clicked and locked his equipment case. Kylo glanced up to see Hux wearing a stylish raincoat cinched by a belt and carrying a gleaming, leatherette messenger bag that matched his polished boots. Hux did not even acknowledge Kylo’s presence, and he lowered his eyes as he addressed Snoke.  
“If you require assistance—“  
“Go.” Snoke waved them both away with a disinterested gesture. “Have no fear, Armitage, I can replace you.”  
Kylo felt Hux react to Snoke’s comment although he gave no outward sign of his flash of anger, and it made his gut fill with acid. He set his jaw tight and flared his nostrils, but he said nothing. Hux nodded, turned, walked towards Kylo and kept going, past him to the exit. When the door hissed open, Hux stopped and turned his head. Kylo watched his profile for three long seconds.  
“Well then,” said Hux, voice leaden with sarcasm. “Are you taking me for further study, or have you changed your mind?”  
Kylo turned to face Snoke but the old man ignored him. He clenched his jaw, turned and marched out after Hux.

“Wait up!”  
Hux was several metres away, almost hidden by the crush of people on the walkway. Hux gave no indication that he had heard Kylo. Kylo fought to catch up, shouldering a path between people on their way to and from wherever they had to be, heads down and collars up against the drizzle. By the time Kylo drew alongside Hux, his hair was plastered to his head and he was soaked to the bone.  
“Let’s go in here.”  
Kylo touched Hux on the shoulder and gestured to a grey door that would be easily missed on the grey evening. Hux frowned but followed without a word. The door opened to Kylo’s knock and a face peered out, blinked at the readout from Kylo’s identity chip then stepped back to admit them. Kylo took Hux by the arm.  
“You get us a table. I’ll get us a drink.”  
Hux nodded and wove between small, round tables to an unoccupied one. He slid into a vacant seat and drummed his gloved fingers on the fake wood surface. Kylo joined him after a few minutes.  
“Sorry. The bar’s busy.” Kylo put two colourful drinks onto the table. Hux lifted one and sniffed it.  
“I would prefer something less sweet,” he said. Kylo sagged a little at the utter lack of decipherable emotional response from Hux, and he scowled.  
“Well I’m not going back to change it. I’ll get you something to match your sour personality next time.”  
Hux’s face slipped into a sly grin. “Oh Kylo, are you saying you thought I was sweet?”  
Kylo bristled. “That’s not a mistake I will make twice.”  
“But you are willing to spring for a second drink.” Hux sat forward. “I think you like me.”  
“Enough,” Kylo snapped. “You’re Snoke’s personal assistant.”  
“You already know that.” Hux sat back and sipped his cocktail. He scrunched up his nose and set the glass down gently.  
“How personal?”

To Kylo, it seemed like the chatter and buzz of the bar stilled for a few heartbeats. The on-stage gyrations ceased and the thumping music stilled. The clink and clatter of glassware silenced itself as he waited for a response. Hux looked right into him and said, “That is none of your fucking business.”  
The bar noise crashed back and Kylo took a deep breath. He looked away, as if watching the dancers in the seedy little stage show, while observing the faint flicker and glow of Hux’s emotions. Kylo smiled and leaned sideways to speak to Hux without looking at him directly.  
“I mean, a man like Snoke could have an assistant do anything he asked, right?”  
“Someone like Snoke,” said Hux, “could have you dead by dinnertime. And then you’d be of no use to me whatsoever.”  
Kylo sat back, eyebrows raised. “What would you want to use me for?”  
Hux’s eyelashes flickered as he blinked. Kylo felt a frisson from Hux although he could not identify the emotion. It was soon suppressed and Hux drained his glass, clicking it down onto the table. Hux glared directly at Kylo.  
“I’m bored of this bar. I’m leaving.”

Hux got up and walked for the exit. Kylo followed close enough that he could have slipped an arm around Hux’s shoulders if he’d dared. Out in the street, still busy, Kylo trotted a step behind until Hux swerved into Kylo, bodily shoving him into an alley between two high buildings.  
“Hey—” Kylo started to cry out in surprise but his complaint was silenced by Hux’s lips pressed hard onto his. Kylo felt it again: the intoxicating wave of emotion from Hux that he chose to reveal, or could not contain. Hux tasted sweet like tangerine and astringent like gin, and Kylo let Hux press him back against the cold, grey concrete wall, only responding to push back enough to remind Hux that he possessed whatever passed for free will. Kylo let his hands drift up into Hux’s hair, smoothing through the perfect strands, one warm hand coming to rest cupping Hux’s jaw and the other supporting the back of his head. Hux let out the slightest whimper as Kylo kissed back ferociously and Kylo felt hands on his chest, pushing. He broke off and raised both hands to shoulder height, palms visible.  
“Hey, you okay?”  
“Of course I am _okay,_ you oaf.” Hux sneered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Has it been so long since anyone touched you that a little finesse is too much to ask for?”  
“Finesse?” said Kylo, disbelieving. “You shove me into an alley, back me up against the wall, kiss me as if you’re desperate and _then_ demand finesse?”  
“Desperate!” Hux almost snarled the word. “I saw the way you looked at me in Snoke’s office. I saw the way you watched me in that poor excuse for a cocktail bar. It’s not me who’s desperate. Tell me Kylo,” Hux closed the distance between them again, slowly inching forward. “When you pick up on feelings, Are you always sure who they belong to?”  
“Of course,” said Kylo, swallowing and looking for any crack in Hux’s shuttered emotional state. Hux leaned forwards as if to kiss him softly, but stopped. Kylo sensed he was waiting for something. He held back his desire to plant both hands on Hux’s arse and grind their hips together to find out physically if Hux was as aroused as he was. “I would know. I have a one hundred percent success rate in identifying replicants. Even the good ones. And I could never find myself attracted to one.”  
Hux took a step back, slapped Kylo so hard his ear rang, and vanished out of the alley.

He could not be far away. Kylo recovered quickly and darted out of the alley after Hux but, despite the fact that both Kylo and Hux stood inches taller the crowd that shuffled along the walkway, he could not see a flash of orange hair. Kylo stepped back into a doorway, earning a curse from its grubby occupant, wrapped in a sleeping bag that had once been bright blue. He dropped the figure a couple of credits and demanded silence in return. Kylo closed his eyes and concentrated on that last spark of bright fury he had felt from Hux. Gradually, Kylo increased the energy he put into his silent search, frowning with the effort, until he caught the edge of a familiar presence. He gasped and opened his eyes, sucking in a loud breath. It wasn’t enough. He knew Hux was nearby, but couldn’t pinpoint the muted emotions.  
“You’re looking for someone.” Kylo glared down at the man. He peered back up with neither fear nor shame. “You are. I can see it. Perhaps I can help you.”  
“You don’t know who I’m looking for.”  
“Yes I do. Tall, bright hair. Angry.”  
“Where did he go!” Kylo’s question was sharp enough to make the man’s face crack into a smile.  
“Cost you.”  
Kylo’s hand shot out. Without touching the man, he put every pounce of command into his voice and pushed his will into the man’s mind.  
_“You will tell me.”_  
“I will tell you.” The voice was dreamlike and the man’s hand pointed lazily across the street at another narrow alley, one that had a gaudy sign across it. “I watched him go into Jabba’s Pleasure Palace.”  
Kylo released the man and dropped another two credits into his lap. The man looked up, confused, and said thank you.

Kylo wove across the road, dodging taxicabs which dodgy brakes, and walked into the alley. The bouncer at the door let him pass with a glance at his credentials and told him not to make any trouble. Kylo searched methodically, starting from the periphery of the main bar room and spiralling inwards, then investigating the side rooms one by one. With a fresh apology ready on his lips, he pulled aside the curtain of the third private room he would gatecrash, stepped inside, and froze.

“HUX!”

He thought he’d shouted the name above the thumping music before assessing the situation fully but nobody reacted. A raincoat draped over a chair. Hux sat on another, arms held behind him, behind the back of the chair, by a man with a scarred face twisted into a grin. Hux’s shirt was torn and falling open, buttons missing, exposing a pale expanse of soft skin and two neat, pink nubs. His trousers flopped wrong-side-out over his boots. A second man, unfastening his trousers, laughed. A third watched from the sidelines, hand on the bulge in his crotch. The second man caught Hux under the knees and yanked him down the seat until his back reclined at an uncomfortable angle and his face screwed up in pain at the new strain on his shoulders.  
“You getting this, mate?”  
Two turned to look at Three, who had his phone in his free hand. Three nodded.  
“Stupid fucking twink. You think you can take three of us?” Two looked at One. “Hold him. I don’t wanna have to fight for this skinny ass. He’s probably so tight he’ll wriggle and scream.”  
One put a hand around Hux’s throat, shoving his chin up and making Hux stretch his head back. Two shiny trails dribbled from Hux’s eyes.  
“Gotcha.” Two held his own cock by the base and sank to his knees, shoving Hux’s feet high. Unfrozen, Kylo sprang into action. Two went down sideways when Kylo’s boot connected with the side of his head. One released Hux, who fell off the chair and curled up on the floor, arms around his head and knees to head. Kylo picked up the chair and brought it down hard across One’s upper body, then raised it again and caught his head with one of the chair legs. One dropped and lay still. Three gaped. Kylo threw the chair aside and reached out his hands.

“You will delete that recording and give me your phone.”

Three stabbed at his screen and handed the device over. Without breaking eye contact for more than a second at a time, Kylo checked there was no evidence on the device and then dropped it, stamping down hard until he heard a satisfying crack. Three watched him warily, ready to spring for the door. Kylo crept carefully closer, closer, and just as Three realised he as in trouble, Kylo’s fist smashed into his face with a sickening crunch. Three reeled backwards until his calves hit the sofa, then fell.

Kylo surveyed the room. Three humans lay silent and still. At least two were still breathing. Hux lay foetal. Kylo grabbed Hux’s raincoat and draped it over his nakedness and sank onto his knees beside him.  
“Hux, get up. We have to leave.”  
Hux flinched.  
“Hux!” Kylo considered his options, glancing at the three other inert forms. Three groaned. “Hux! I mean it, Get up or I will carry you out of here.”  
Three shuddered and flopped onto his side. A motion caught Kylo’s attention and he looked over. One was fumbling with a gun. Kylo was on his feet and leaping onto One in a heartbeat. He did not release his hold on One’s thick neck until the man’s eyes rolled and fluttered and he fell.  
“Hux. Now.”  
Hux did not respond. Kylo sighed heavily and pulled him to his feet, wrapping the raincoat around him and supporting him between his own body and the wall while he manoeuvred Hux’s trousers up and fastened them. Hux came back into himself at that. He glared at Kylo and shook his head.  
“What’s a nice guy like you. Doing.”  
“Fucking saving you from three ogres,” said Kylo. “You can thank me later.”

Kylo half-led, half-carried Hux out of the room and into the main bar, parked him on a spare chair in a discreet corner, ordered him not to move, and returned to the room. When he came back, Hux had fixed his clothing as best he could and stood on shaky legs to sneer at Kylo. Kylo shook his head, took Hux by the arm and pulled him out of the bar, out of the alley and back into the busy street. He hailed a taxi and bundled Hux inside, yelling an address at the robotic driver. Hux was silent for the entire slow trip through the city traffic. The driver fell silent too after Kylo ordered it to turn off _friendly banter_ mode. After what felt like an eternity of stop lights and brake lights, the taxi pulled up outside Kylo’s building. Kylo got out and pulled Hux with him. He did not let go Hux’s arm until they were inside Kylo’s apartment with the door closed and locked.

“What the fuck happened, Hux?” demanded Kylo, glaring at Hux’s downcast eyes.  
Hux stiffened. “What the fuck do you care?”  
“You could have been killed! Used, murdered and dumped. Is your life worth nothing to you?”  
Hux’s eyes flashed open and his lips twisted into a grimace. “At least if I died you’d know I was human!”  
Kylo stared, open mouthed. “Is that... is THAT what this was all about?”  
“THAT’S WHAT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT!”  
Kylo stepped back at the sudden force of Hux’s words and the tidal wave of emotion. Hux crumpled to the floor. Kylo followed him, crouching then kneeling in his dingy living room.  
“Hux, what the fuck. Talk to me.”  
Hux shook his head, his face crumpled and he sobbed. Kylo wrapped both arms around Hux and sat beside him, pulling him over until Hux’s head rested on his shoulder. They remained still for a few minutes until Hux’s sobs diminished and he took a heaving, steadying breath.  
“What do I call someone who is simultaneously and arsehole and the best opportunity I ever met?”  
Kylo considered the question and laughed. “You can call me Kylo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kylo upsets Hux. Hux finds himself in an unsafe group sex / gang bang situation. I have left it deliberately ambiguous as to whether Hux consented or not. Kylo saves him.


	3. Finesse

Kylo felt Hux shift so he released his grip around Hux’s shoulders. He stood, offered a hand to Hux to help him to his feet, and Hux accepted. There was a second when Kylo thought that Hux was going to let go, dust himself down, say goodnight and walk out of his life forever, but Hux kept hold of Kylo’s hands. Hux cleared his throat.  
“I don’t want to go back to Snoke like this.”  
“Stay here.”  
Hux gave a single nod in thanks. Kylo raised one hand slowly to Hux’s face, wary in case he flinched, and wiped away cool tears with the pad of his thumb. Hux closed his eyes and leaned in to the caress, tilting his head so that his cheek rested on Kylo’s palm.  
“I’m cold. I stink. I feel...”  
Hux shuddered. Kylo wrapped his arms around Hux again. “You want to use the shower?” Kylo felt Hux nod his head. “It’s just through there. That’s my bedroom. I’ll get you a towel and something to wear after, then I’ll get out of your way.”

Hux detached himself from Kylo’s warmth, went into the bedroom and started peeling off his soiled, torn and crumpled clothing while Kylo pulled a towel from his closet. He started the water running and got in the shower, leaving the door open. Kylo watched for a handful of seconds then followed, shedding his own clothes, aware of the sweat, the cloying bar-stink and the sheen of the spatters of blood from his brawl. He stood nude in his own bedroom, looking through into the shower room where he could see the pale shapes of Hux’s back, narrow shoulders and long limbs. Hux picked up a bottle from the floor of the shower, examined it then swapped it for another. Kylo looked away, face heating up, willing his cock to stay disinterested.  
“Well then,” Hux called over the gurgle and hiss of the water recycler pump, without looking round. “Do I have to do this all by myself?”

Kylo stepped into the shower room and crowded into the enclosure behind Hux. He took the shampoo bottle from Hux’s hand, squeezed some into his hand and dropped the bottle. Ignoring the sting from his scraped and battered knuckles, Kylo massaged the lather into Hux’s hair then smoothed it through the strands and rinsed it off. Hux dropped his head to the side. Kylo bit his lip, tasting salt from his own perspiration, then leaned forwards so that his head got under the spray and his lips made contact with the skin at the junction of Hux’s shoulder and neck. Hux laughed softly.  
“So you are capable of being nice?”  
“You demanded finesse,” Kylo said, kissing Hux on the point of his shoulder.  
Hux turned, accidentally elbowing Kylo in the cramped space. He pulled Kylo further under the shower spray. “I want to wash your hair.”  
Holding Hux’s gaze, Kylo said, “I dropped the shampoo.”  
“Well then, you had better pick it up.”  
Kylo got lost for a second more in the pale grey-green of Hux’s irises. Hux blinked and slowly smiled. Kylo grinned, laughed and shook his head. Unable to lean over, he sank carefully down to his knees and groped around the floor of the enclosure until his hand grasped the bottle. He held it up and Hux took it. Kylo kissed the skin closest to his face, the side of Hux’s hip, and turned his eyes up to see Hux looking back down at him.  
“Finesse?”  
“Oh is that what you want?” Hux poured shampoo directly onto Kylo’s head and started lathering it. Kylo shifted on his knees for comfort and Hux turned to face him. Hux was gentle, fingers making small circles on Kylo’s scalp, sending tingling shivers down his back. Kylo closed his eyes and dropped his head, concentrating on the sensation and humming contentedly, ignoring his arousal in favour of this soft treatment from Hux. When he was done, Hux combed his fingers through Kylo’s hair from hairline to nape a few times while Kylo rested his forehead on Hux’s soft stomach, and smiled at the sight of Hux’s erect cock. He thought about moving in, pressing their bodies close together, making Hux gasp and shiver with pleasure, but settled for a kiss above Hux’s navel. Hux cupped Kylo’s head with both hands, turning his face up to look at him.

“I want you.”

Hux spoke so quietly, barely mouthing his words, that Kylo almost asked him to repeat himself. He stared up into Hux’s face then his features slipped into a frown.  
“Are you sure? I mean, after what happened—“  
“Shut up.” Words like a whip crack. Kylo silenced his concern. Hux softened his voice. “I don’t want to think about that. I want you. Take me out of my own head. Just for a while.”  
Kylo swallowed and nodded. “Okay.”  
Hux turned off the shower and Kylo felt a sudden chill as Hux opened the door and stepped out, grabbing the towel. Kylo got up and followed, towelling off as he walked through to the bedroom and wishing he’d changed the sheets more recently. Hux did not seem to mind. Kylo watched as Hux pulled back the covers and got into bed, shifting over to make room and raising an eyebrow at Kylo.  
“Kylo, if you were any slower you’d stop. Get over here.”

Kylo leapt across the room and slid into bed beside Hux. Hux lay on his back, Kylo on his side, facing Hux, propped up on one elbow. With his free hand, Kylo traced the line of Hux’s jaw, pausing with his fingers under Hux’s chin, then leaned down to kiss him. Hux pushed his hands into Kylo’s damp hair and held on, kissing back, nipping with his lips at Kylo’s soft mouth. Kylo felt the warm slick of Hux’s tongue across his lower lip and relaxed a little, opening his mouth and pressing closer. Hux slipped one hand down Kylo’s back and pulled at him.  
“Get on top of me,” he said.  
Kylo slid his leg across Hux’s thighs and heaved himself up above Hux, knees straddling his hips, one arm either side of Hux’s head. He waited on knees and forearms, face to face, until Hux planted both hands on his back and pulled him down.  
“I won’t break, Kylo. Stop treating me like I’m fragile.”  
Kylo shrugged. “Sorry. Can’t help it.” But he lowered himself until his bodyweight pushed Hux down into the bed. Hux wriggled for comfort and huffed out a laugh at the expression on Kylo’s face.  
“Mmhmm, you like that?”  
“Mmhmm, I like that.”  
Hux thrust his hips up. Kylo smiled and closed his eyes, dipping his head for another kiss. He felt Hux’s hands stroke down his back to his ass then squeeze gently with each slow thrust. He kissed along Hux’s jaw and up to his ear.  
“What do you like?” Kylo murmured. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”  
“I like...” Hux sucked his lip. “I like a considerate lover who respects me as a human. Either you’ve decided I’m not a replicant or you’re really good at faking this. Which is it, Kylo Ren?”  
“Fuck.” Kylo sank his head onto Hux’s shoulder. “Maybe I don’t know. Maybe I’ve decided that it’s what _you_ think that matters. If you tell me you’re human, then you’re human.”  
“End of investigation?”  
Kylo kissed Hux’s neck and Hux stretched to give him easier access to his sensitive throat. “Hmm, if I say yes will you leave, happy that you’ve passed the test?” Kylo trailed his tongue up Hux’s neck and over the shell of his ear. Hux shivered.  
“No. I said I want you. You’re something else. Are you convinced I’m human?”  
Kylo paused to look at Hux’s green eyes. “Are you?” He grinned.  
Hux smiled. “Shut up and fuck me.”

Later, in the dim yellow glow of streetlight filtering through Kylo’s blinds, Kylo watched Hux’s eyelids flutter. He held Hux loosely, unwilling to wake him, wondering what he dreamed about. Despite Kylo’s care, Hux woke with a gasp and clutched at Kylo, relaxing with a deep breath after a few seconds.  
“Bad dream?” asked Kylo.  
“Did I wake you? Sorry.”  
“Want to talk about it?”  
“About my dream?”  
“About anything. How did you end up working for Snoke?”  
Hux sighed and rolled onto his back. Kylo followed, rolling onto his side so that he could watch Hux’s face.  
“I’ve always worked for Snoke. I started straight out of school as a technical assistant and worked my way up into his favour. But I think he’s getting tired of me. He says...” Hux yawned. Kylo stroked his cheek with the backs of his fingers. “He says things. Makes me doubt myself.”  
“What kind of things?” asked Kylo, sudden alertness washing away his drowse.  
“Oh,” Hux shrugged. “He asks me how I know my memories are real and not implanted. He asks me if I can show him evidence that I was born thirty-four years ago and not built last week. He tells me that I’m _almost better than the real thing._ When he’s angry with me he tells me I’m defective and I need reconditioned. That sort of thing.”  
Kylo sucked his lip into his mouth while he considered this. After a minute, he said, “Snoke’s a monster.”  
Hux gave a harsh laugh. “Don’t I know it. He’s not fit to lead his own company. He manufactures replicants and he employs humans and he is equally cruel to both. I wish—” Hux sighed. “Doesn’t matter.”  
“What do you wish for, Hux?”  
“I wish I worked on an equal footing with someone else who understands the psychology of both humans and replicants. I wish Snoke death. Is that terrible?”  
“I’m not your judge any more,” Kylo said. “Or your executioner.”  
“No?”  
Hux’s eyes glinted with reflected streetlight. Kylo wondered if his own deep brown eyes glowed amber the way Hux’s pale ones did.  
“I resign.”  
“Because you still can’t tell whether I’m human or replicant?”  
“Because I don’t care any more. Also,” Kylo sniggered and kissed Hux. “We fucked. Very unprofessional. Snoke will have me killed.”  
“Shit,” said Hux. “He might. Kylo, he can’t know about this.”  
“I have no intention of telling him,” said Kylo, chewing his lip again. “This might be a dumb question but is this it? Us? Is there any _us_ to hide from him _,_ Hux?”  
Kylo felt the intensity of Hux’s stare. “What are you asking me, Kylo?”  
Kylo lay back and closed his eyes. He rested the back of one hand across his face. “I suppose I am asking if this is a one night stand, a casual fuck then we go our separate ways after I report my conclusion back to Snoke and lose my job.” He sighed deeply. “Or whether I’ve ruined my career for something more.”  
“Oh.” Hux slipped his arm across Kylo’s chest and settled his head on Kylo’s shoulder. “I think we make a good team. We have so _much_ in common.”  
Hux stretched his head up to kiss Kylo’s jaw, and Kylo laughed.

Morning came too soon and brought enough light that Kylo could see Hux’s bruises and his own scuffed and swollen knuckles. They regarded one other critically.  
“How did that not hurt last night?” asked Hux, pointing at Kylo’s hand.  
Kylo shrugged. “It did but I didn’t have time to think about it.”  
Hux dressed in the clothes Kylo laid out for him. Kylo’s spare formal shirt was loose around his neck. “Can you see anything?” Hux asked, craning his neck one way then the other.  
Kylo looked at the purpling fingermark bruises on Hux’s pale skin. “There’s no way of hiding that.”  
“Snoke will kill us both if he finds out we’re... involved.” Hux sighed. “Not together, one at a time. He’ll make one of us helplessly watch the other die or he’ll fix it so that one of us has to kill the other. I’ve seen it before.” Kylo’s horror must have shown because Hux gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, you don’t know about that? He pits replicants against one another. Humans too. He calls it research and videos it to watch again to _collect results_. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole scene at Jabba’s was a set-up because he thinks he owns me. And you.”  
A small muscle in Kylo’s jaw twitched and he gritted his teeth. “Why has nobody stopped him?”  
“He’s protected,” said Hux, pulling on a pair of Kylo’s trousers and tightening the belt as far as it would go then tucking the loose fabric around his calves into his boots. “It would... it would have to be an inside job.” Hux shook out his raincoat and made a face at the creases. He threw it on and belted it.   
“We could vanish,” said Kylo.  
“How romantic. No.” Hux shook his head. “He’d find us. And I want him stopped. Are you coming with me?”  
Kylo stood in silence for a moment, then slowly nodded his head.


	4. Secrets, Lies and Promise

Kylo hailed a taxi and they sat in uncomfortable silence, looking at the display screens that crowded the inside of the passenger compartment without taking in much detail from advertisement after bright advertisement for the latest technology. Their automated driver, in full banter mode, chattered away ignored. Too soon Kylo and Hux exited the car outside the featureless monolith that formed the frontage of Snoke Corporation. They paused without looking at each other until Hux led the way inside, his biometrics granting passage through to Snoke’s personal elevator. Once enclosed, Hux allowed the elevator to start then cursed and thumped the emergency stop. The metal box lurched to a halt. Hux faced Kylo.  
“We are nothing. Tell him nothing. I will divulge only what he needs to know.”  
Kylo raised his eyebrows. “He will want to know my conclusions and a reason for why I’m quitting.”  
Hux glared. “Nothing! Do you understand? There is nothing between us. I feel nothing for you and you are not capable of feeling anything real for me.” Kylo watched Hux’s face carefully, noting the pink tinge here and there on his beautifully imperfect skin and the pinpoint pupils surrounded by patterns of grey-green that reflected the spotlights in the ceiling. Hux stood rigid, hands balled into tight fists by his sides. Kylo frowned and nodded, then reached across to adjust the neckline of Hux’s borrowed shirt to hide more of his bruising. Hux flinched. Kylo raised both hands and moved away until his back hit the wall.  
“You’re wrong, but have it your way, Hux.” He blinked and felt his jaw tighten. “I could love you. All that talk this morning. What was that?”  
“A pointless fantasy,” replied Hux. “Tell me, do replicants dream? I wonder what they dream about. Freedom, perhaps? Long lives lived as they please?”  
Kylo’s eyebrows raised but he remained silent, chewing his lip. Hux swore and jabbed at the elevator control panel until it resumed its upward climb. Kylo reached his hand out without looking and squeezed Hux’s fingers. Hux did not respond.

In the antechamber to Snoke’s private offices, Hux was waved through immediately while Kylo was diverted to a waiting room by a tall security guard. He paced for a full minute, scanning the tastefully panelled walls until he located the slightly off-colour spot that indicated the likely position of a hidden surveillance unit. He wondered if Snoke and Hux were both watching, and pointed straight at the camera.  
“I was wrong to think you and I could have any feelings for each other. Hux? You hearing this? You’re not a replicant or a human. You’re just an asshole. You manipulated me. Used me, and I don’t even know what for. Entertainment? You told me whatever you thought I wanted to hear to get me to... to think you were human enough to deserve love.” Kylo grimaced then sneered. “You deserve your place with Snoke. I guess you’re going to be just fine. But I will complete my full analysis of your status. Hah.” Kylo walked back and forth for a few seconds then returned to glare at the surveillance device. “Do you know I’ve met replicants who could convince their human partners that they loved them because of well written algorithms and the sheer amount of wishful thinking on the human’s side? Made them happy for four years at a time before the replicant needed replacing.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was ready to drop everything for you. You know that? I would have walked away from everything I’ve ever known. For you.” Kylo shook his head. “Not a mistake I will make again.” He punched the wall then showed his freshly bleeding hand to the camera. “You made me want to save you from yourself but you don’t need saving. You need—”

Kylo punched the wall again, directly over the camera position, and he gave a satisfied smirk at the thought that he might have startled whoever was watching. The wall caved in. Behind the shattered panel, electronics fizzed and popped. A few seconds later, a wall panel slid open revealing a passageway and the security guard. Kylo sneered.   
“So I get escorted off the premises by a replicant?”  
The woman shook her head. “My name is Phasma. I am head of personal security and my status is none of your business. Hux sends his apologies. He is indisposed at the moment but I am sure he appreciated your little show. Please follow me.”   
With a lack of viable alternatives, Kylo followed. “Is Hux in danger?” he asked Phasma’s back as the door panel hissed and clicked behind them. Phasma turned and gave him an appraising look.   
“He’s Snoke’s,” she said. “So Snoke will keep him. Snoke will never give up anything he thinks he owns.” Phasma turned and walked a little faster.   
“But he is in danger?” Kylo persisted. “Have you ever experienced Snoke’s anger, directly or indirectly? Are the stories Hux told me about Snoke pitting replicants against one another true? Have you witnessed cruelty towards replicants?” Kylo sighed and wished he could sit Phasma opposite his recording equipment and interview her properly. “Has he ever been cruel to you?”  
“Through here,” said Phasma, stopping by another door without opening it. She cocked her head and raised one eyebrow. “I’m sure if I displeased Snoke I would know nothing about it. I would wake up implanted with the same set of memories as his first Phasma, and I would have no knowledge of any unfortunate memories.”  
“You are not his first Phasma? You’re not unique? There are other Phasma models out there?”  
Phasma laughed. “Oh, I am unique. There is only one Phasma. One at a time, at least. I know I am not the first because Snoke likes to remind me that the first Phasma was superior in every way and I should strive to be more like her. I might be the second Phasma or the hundredth.” She turned to look impassively at Kylo. “She was his adopted daughter. Before he— Does it matter?”  
“I don’t know,” replied Kylo. “I feel like I don’t know anything any more.”  
“Oh.” Phasma smiled. “Hux told me you showed promise. Go on in.”  
Phasma opened the door and stood aside. Kylo frowned at her, but she shook her head, raised her finger to her lips and walked away.

The first thing Kylo noticed was the absence of Hux. The second thing Kylo noticed was the large screen that flickered into life on the far wall. The third thing Kylo noticed was the fury on Snoke’s disfigured face.  
“You!” Snoke pointed a gnarled finger at Kylo. “I trusted you with Armitage and you failed me.” With a suppressed shudder, Kylo’s eyes followed the trail of spittle that sprayed from Snoke’s lips when he shouted. He shook his head.  
“No. Hux got himself into trouble,” said Kylo. “I prevented further harm.”  
“He’s a weak willed boy,” Snoke spat out. “He was entrusted to your professional care. You should not have let him out of your sight. Then I would not have had to clean up your mess.”  
Snoke waved a hand and the screen burst into life. Heart rate soaring, breath held for several seconds until he felt control return, Kylo watched as the scene from the night before played as large as life. He saw Hux being led into the dingy room, sitting down and willingly holding his hands behind the chair back for his wrists to be tied. Kylo gritted his teeth and shook his head. “This could be fake.”  
“No. As you can see,” Snoke hissed his exaggerated sibilants. “Armitage has unsavoury tastes. And here comes the knight in armour to save the useless slip of a boy!”  
Kylo saw himself enter the room and, one by one, disable those he saw as Hux’s abusers. He watched unblinking, unable to look away, as he scooped Hux up and dragged him out. Kylo glanced at Snoke. Snoke was watching him intently and motioned at the screen.  
“Keep watching, my boy. The best bit is about to begin.”

Kylo closed his eyes and shook his head. Without regret, he replayed the memory in his head while he listened to the sound of him opening the door, walking back into the room, dispatching with bare hands, one by one, all three of Hux’s attackers—he still would not think of them as consensual partners—and calmly walking out again. When he opened his eyes, Snoke was glaring at him.  
“I had to send Phasma with a clean up team. That kind of clean up does not come cheap, unlike Armitage. You murdered three humans over a pathetic pervert who might be a replicant. How would that look to the police? Hmm?”  
“It was to protect—“  
“BULLSHIT!”  
Snoke’s bellow make Kylo cringe.  
“It was premeditated! You walked away with Armitage. You could have kept walking. You went back to commit murder.” Snoke sat back. “Even humans die for that crime.”  
“I wanted to make them pay. They had no right.”  
“Neither did you,” said Snoke. He smiled and leaned forward, and Kylo felt a chill. “However, your current position in my employ means that no being—human or replicant—outside of this room will ever see that recording. I have had your secondment confirmed. You belong to me.”   
Snoke snapped his fingers and the screen blanked. Kylo felt his stomach roil as he considered the implications of Snoke’s words. Snoke’s expression grew harder, calculating.  
“Still thinking of quitting and running away with my worthless assistant, Kylo Ren? Was he really that good?”  
Behind Snoke, another panel slid open and Hux walked through. Kylo observed his movements in his peripheral vision but kept his focus on the shimmer within Snoke’s pale blue eyes. He thought he saw Hux slowly shake his head, and spared him a single flick of eye contact before concentrating on Snoke’s intense gaze again.  
“No.” Kylo stood straighter. “I will finish what I came here to do.” 

Snoke nodded. “Good boy,” he said. “Armitage? Come here.”  
Armitage, head down, marched closer and stood in front of Snoke. Kylo could feel fear rolling off Hux.   
“You disobeyed my wishes. You put yourself in danger. You put Kylo Ren in danger. You will be punished like the cur you are.”  
Hux sank to the floor, convulsing. Kylo saw a device in Snoke’s hand and threw himself at Snoke. Pain wracked every nerve in his body and he fell back, lying across Hux and shielding him from the effects of whatever remote weapon Snoke wielded. Hux screamed, and it took Kylo a few seconds to realise there were words within Hux’s screams. The pain stopped but the memory of it remained and Kylo had no choice but to stay on the floor while Hux writhed out from under him and continued his tirade of verbal abuse towards Snoke.

Snoke threw back his ugly head and laughed. “Oh my foolish child. Now you find some courage to answer back? Now that I no longer need you? It is far, far too late for you. And Kylo, you exceed my expectations in so many ways, but you will learn respect before I am ready for you.” Snoke’s laughter subsided. “Phasma!” he called out. “Take this pair of fools away and see to it that they are secure.”


	5. The Unreliability of Memory

Flanked by Snoke’s personal guards, Kylo and Hux walked through a security door that even Hux’s biometrics would not open. Phasma brought up the rear.  
“Snoke gave me a single use code so there’s no point in thinking I can get you out of here,” she said as the last of the red-uniformed guards left. “He’s busy with the city councillors and chief of police for the next hour. You’re to remain in his private apartment for now. It’s probably the most secure place on the planet.”  
“This is intolerable!” protested Hux. “I am Snoke’s most trusted assistant and—“  
“Not any more,” said Phasma with a shrug. “You may as well get comfortable. I will be right outside that door.” She pointed at the door through which they had entered. “If you need anything specific,” Phasma said as she shifted her gaze from Hux to Kylo, “I suggest you look for it yourself. I will not be answering the outer door for anyone other than Snoke himself.”

With another look from Kylo to Hux and back again, Phasma walked to the door, scanned her biometrics, looked up at the security camera, and requested to be granted exit. The door slid open for a brief moment and she darted out. Hux immediately turned to Kylo.  
“He already knew everything. We don’t have much time. Someone will come for me soon. When I am gone, you need to search this entire apartment while Snoke is busy dealing with me. I will keep him distracted for as long as I can, but he will win and I will lose and you need to be prepared to fight back however you can.”  
Kylo frowned, but he nodded and looked around the reception room at the small desk with its built-in workstation, and comfortable seating that lined the opposite wall. There was one other door that Kylo assumed led into Snoke’s private living area. “We have an hour or less. We should get started. What are we looking for, exactly?” Kylo asked. Hux shook his head.  
“I won’t help you. Anything you uncover, Snoke will find out through me. You’ve seen what he’s prepared to do to get what he wants? I can’t fight him.”  
Kylo‘s expression showed his hurt at Hux’s capitulation. “But—“  
“No!” Hux held up his hand, palm out, to silence Kylo. “I might never see you again. No argument. I want to make my last memory of you a comfort that I can cling to.” Kylo wiped his eyes and found to his surprise that his cheeks were wet. Hux laughed. “Come here.”  
Kylo walked slowly over to stand beside Hux. Hux stroked the damp from Kylo’s face with cool fingers then leaned in and kissed his lips.  
“Make me feel good, Kylo.” Hux sighed and kissed him softly again. Kylo pushed his hands into Hux’s hair and kissed back harder. Hux broke off after a desperate minute and held tight to Kylo. “Make me forget that any of this even matters. Who knows, maybe this time I’ll—”  
Hux nuzzled into Kylo’s neck.  
“What?” asked Kylo. “You’ll what?”  
“Doesn’t matter,” said Hux. “Make me believe you love me.”

Kylo picked Hux up and laid him on the plush seating that ran the length of the reception room. He smiled at Hux and unfastened the too-large collar, feeling a twinge of emotion at the fingermarks on Hux’s pale throat. He leaned down and kissed each purple smudge. Hux angled his head back and let out a small sound of contentment. Kylo popped open the buttons on Hux’s borrowed shirt one by one, pulling the fabric open to reveal pale skin. He leaned in and kissed the line of Hux’s sternum while his hand moved lower to Hux’s belt. Buckle unfastened, Kylo sat up and eased the too-large trousers down over Hux’s hips while Hux laughed.  
“You make me feel tiny,” Hux said. “You looked so imposing yesterday when we met. Was it only yesterday? How have I gone so quickly from resenting that you were called in to interrogate me, to wanting never to leave your side?”  
Kylo paused his work on removing Hux’s boots. He smiled. “You walked in through that door behind... _him_ and you unsettled me. I felt like I knew you once but I’d forgotten. Like... like seeing a school friend you’d moved away from twenty years ago across the street. Familiar, but... not.”  
Hux stroked Kylo’s face. Kylo chased Hux’s palm for a kiss, then Hux wove his slender fingers into Kylo’s thick hair and stroked through it until his fingers slipped through the strands unhindered by tangles. Kylo moved back with Hux, settling down for another kiss, resting his weight on Hux’s slim frame, reassured by the tight grip around his back that Hux was not uncomfortable under his muscular bulk. Hux moved one of his hands lower, pushed under Kylo’s waistband, and caressed the swell of his buttocks. “Well then,” he said, sucking his lower lip through his teeth. “What are you going to do with me, Kylo Ren?”

  
Kylo shifted so that he could reach a hand between them and cover the hard length of Hux’s erection. Hux caught his breath. Kylo watched his green eyes, thin rings of shifting colour around fat, black pupils. “Whatever you want. I’ll do it. For you... love.”  
“I want this,” said Hux. “Touch me. Kiss me. I want to feel your weight on me. You’re so... you feel so solid. You make me feel safe. I want to feel that you want me too.”  
Hux wrestled with the fastenings of Kylo’s trousers until Kylo helped, pushing up on his arms and wriggling his hips free of his trousers and shorts. Kylo lay down on Hux again. He smiled. “Like this? Slow?”  
Hux nodded. Kylo slid his hand between them again and trapped Hux’s cock against his own. He felt Hux’s hands warm on his buttocks, pulling their hips even tighter together. Hux thrust up slowly and Kylo barely moved. Hux twined his legs behind Kylo’s calves and pulled them so tightly together that Kylo could barely move. With a series of slow, small movements, Hux teased and Kylo moaned softly between deep kisses. He wondered if it would be enough, these shallow thrusts that rubbed their cocks between the flat of his hand and the warm skin of his belly, or if Hux would lose interest or, worse, if he himself would find his erection flagging. Hux moved one hand up to Kylo’s head, grasping his hair, pulling him.  
“You want more?” Hux murmured, breath ghosting across the shell of Kylo’s ear. Kylo whimpered. “You can, if you’re careful.”  
“Let me use my mouth,” said Kylo, hope flaring in his imagination. He could nestle between Hux’s open thighs and—  
“No. I want you like this. Face to face. I want to watch those big brown eyes and those lips when you come. I want to feel your body against mine. I want to hear you talk nonsense when you’re close. Get up a bit?” Kylo raised his hips. Hux moved and Kylo felt his cock gripped gently. He shifted his own grip on Hux to match and settled his weight down again. He took his cues from Hux, moving in time with the pace Hux set, murmuring soft words of love.

Kylo lost track of time. He watched Hux’s face, held back to make sure Hux came first and he followed a few seconds after. They lay without moving, too hot and too lethargic, until Hux said they had to get ready. Kylo sighed and kissed Hux.  
“I think it’s true,” he said.  
“What is?” asked Hux.  
“That I love you. However impulsive and stupid that is. I feel... something that’s different when I think about you.”  
“Indigestion?” said Hux with a laugh, righting his borrowed clothes. Kylo grinned as he cleaned up with wipes taken from the reception desk.  
“Infatuation, maybe. This makes no sense. How long do we have? Should I start—”  
The main door opened and Snoke walked in with two red-uniformed guards and Phasma. Snoke’s face twisted in disgust.  
“Kylo Ren is to remain here. Armitage will come with me. Bring him.”  
Snoke turned and walked out. The guards grabbled Hux by the arms and he cried out once as they dragged him out backwards. Phasma cast a look over Kylo.  
“You know what you have to do,” she said. “So do it.”

Kylo let the door close and lock, and waited another minute in case Phasma returned. He tested the security panel on the inner door and found to his surprise that Snoke’s personal apartment was unlocked. He stepped inside, prepared to dodge in case of a trap, but no automated attack came. Instead, Kylo found himself in a well furnished, softly lit room with an area set aside for leisure and an area set aside for work. He went to the work area first. Snoke’s filing system was logical and Kylo smiled in satisfaction, the thought _typical Hux_ coming to mind unbidden. He flipped through memory cards until he found Snoke’s files on replicant technology. These cards he gathered up and set in a grid pattern on Snoke’s desk, then he settled down to read.

Again, Kylo lost track of time. No natural light entered Snoke’s apartment and the unwavering glow of the overhead lights gave him no clues as to time of day. Lost in the world of legal research into replicant lifespan restriction algorithms and illegal research into replicant longevity, Kylo clicked from page to page and document to document, pausing only once to stare at the screen, blink slowly, re-read what he had seen and download a file onto a spare memory card, popped out of its plastic case from a packet in Snoke’s drawer. Hux was right about some things. Snoke was conducting illegal research and he had bought off everyone who might look too closely at Snoke Corp Research and Development. Some investigators had emigrated. Some died. Others simply vanished. Once he had exhausted his supply of information, Kylo conducted a search of the rest of Snoke’s apartment. There was a dining room and a small kitchen, a large bedroom and a smaller one, each with its own facilities.

Kylo was in the second bedroom, idly examining the neat row of bottles in the cabinet when a voice startled him.  
“Well then. I must say it is a pleasant surprise to find a handsome man in my bathroom, but you had better explain exactly what you are doing here.”

Kylo called out Hux’s name and turned, but the smile froze on his face when he recognised the weapon Hux held in his hand.  
“It’s me, Kylo,” he said. “Hux?”  
Hux frowned and shook his head. “Kylo. Kylo Ren? For real?”  
“Yes!” Kylo took a step forward but Hux raised Snoke’s weapon and he stopped. “They took you away from me hours ago. Days for all I know. Hux—“  
It was then Kylo noticed Hux had changed clothing. He wore an open neck shirt. Kylo stared at Hux’s unblemished throat and cursed under his breath.  
“I am so sorry, Hux. Snoke won again, didn’t he? You said he would. Look, you won’t remember who I am or anything that happened the last couple of days, but I lo— I have something for you.” Kylo held up the memory card. “The code on this deactivates the replicant lifespan limiter.”  
Hux frowned. “Of course I remember who you are and I have spent the last couple of perfectly boring days doing Snoke’s filing for him. Why would I have trouble remembering that? But I’ll take that code because you stole it from Snoke, although I assure you I have no need of it. I’m human.” Hux gave a pitying smile. “Unlike you.”  
Head shaking from side to side, Kylo repeated, “No, no, no,” over and over until Hux laughed. It was not a particularly cruel sound, but it was unsettling in its condescension.  
“Oh yes. Snoke had me research your case. Want to see?”  
Numb, Kylo followed Hux into his bedroom. Hux pulled open a drawer hidden in the base of his divan and lifted out a box. On the box lid was a name: _Ben Solo._

Hux set the box on the bed and stepped away, hand still clasped around the weapon Snoke used to inflict pain. “Go on,” he said. “Open it.”  
Kylo did as Hux told him. Inside he saw family photographs, dog-eared and peeling and yellowed with age. He set them out, eyes blurring with tears.  
“My mother,” he said, pointing to a photo of a petite brown-haired woman with a sombre expression but a sparkle in her eyes.  
“My father,” he said, laying down a picture of a man with an easy, roguish grin, who carried himself with a swagger.  
“My cousin and her boyfriend,” he said, pointing to a teenager with her hair in three buns, swinging from the lowest branch of a thick-trunked tree while a dark-skinned man waited to catch her.  
“Uncle.” An older man, melancholy, beard shot with grey below piercing eyes.  
He laid out the last photograph on its own. A lanky teenage boy yet to grow into the size promised by the width of his shoulders, all knees and elbows, ears and nose too big for his face. He laughed and pointed at something out of the frame.  
“I remember that day. Uncle Chewie came to visit with his family and we played games until it was too dark to see. I was laughing at our neighbour, Poe, because he boasted that he could wrestle Chewie’s kid and win. He was wrong.”  
Kylo found he was smiling at the memory. He looked up at Hux. When had he sat on the floor? There was no sign of the weapon and Hux swallowed, looking away and wiping at his face with both hands.  
“I’m sorry, Kylo. Those memories were never yours. Ben Solo’s life ended decades ago. You can stay a while, but...”

Hux shrugged. He patted Kylo on the shoulder and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.


	6. Immortality

“Get up.”

Kylo looked up at the tall woman blocking the light from the doorway. He let his gaze play over the shapes on the photographs again, unable to make out details any more, then gathered up Ben Solo’s memories and placed them back in their box. He replaced it in the cubby set into the base of Hux’s bed then pushed himself to his feet. Phasma nodded with an approving hum.  
“You got further than the last one. There’s not much time before Snoke sets you back on the straight and narrow too.”  
“What are you talking about?” asked Kylo, although he suspected with some dread that he already knew the answer. Phasma flared her nostrils and thinned her lips.  
“We do not have time for this. Move.”  
“Not until you tell me what the Hell is going on!”  
“Fine.” Phasma threw up her hands and dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “Last time you failed because you took Snoke’s ceremonial sword and smashed up the apartment when you found out what you are. You want to fail out of stubbornness this time? Short version: every time Snoke has Hux reconditioned, a few wisps of memories remain. Just enough to start him on this whole charade all over again. His subconscious feeds him dreams of your face, so he does his homework and finds Ben Solo’s file and steals it from Snoke. Then Snoke throws you together to see what will happen. You feel something.” Phasma took a step into the room and cast a glance behind her. She leaned closer. “But you don’t quite remember, do you? Vague impressions of feelings that you can’t explain, slippery as eels when you try to hold them still.”  
Kylo frowned and sucked his lip. “What about you?”  
Phasma shrugged and looked away for a second. “I escape reconditioning because of my loyalty. I always hand you over to Snoke.”  
Kylo looked at her with horror, stomach churning and limbs feeling loose and weak, head buzzing with the onset of panic he struggled to contain. “You’re taking me to Snoke?”  
“No.” Phasma scowled at Kylo. “He sent me to oversee your reconditioning but, like I said before, you show promise this time. I think between us we can beat him at his own game.” Phasma took a deep breath. “This time, Kylo Ren, I am going to help you.”  
“Why?” Kylo shook his head. “Won’t you end up reconditioned too?”  
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug as she turned away. “I think we can win, but we need information and we have to _MOVE.”_

Phasma led Kylo out of Snoke’s apartment, down the hall at a brisk march and into another elevator. She spoke into a wall mounted microphone in a convincing facsimile of Snoke’s rasping, lisping pronunciation.  
“Primary research records room, soon as you are awake, Mitaka. Some of us value our time.”  
The elevator lurched into motion and Kylo felt the lightness of downward acceleration. He and Phasma stood shoulder to shoulder in silence, unblinking, barely breathing, until the carriage slowed and stopped. The doors opened and Phasma set off at her brisk march again without needing to check that Kylo followed. She led Kylo to a large data storage room with fans that clicked and whirred and lighting that tracked their progress between the rows and rows of storage units. Footsteps pattered behind them and Kylo ducked into the next aisle. He stood completely still and listened.  
“Sir? Mister— Phasma! I thought Mister Snoke himself was paying us a visit?”  
“No need to panic, Doph. He authorised access but he has other concerns today. He ordered me to pull the files on his replicant research facility that cover the final month of Brendol’s control.”  
“Oh. Um. I really don’t think I can do that, Phasma.”  
“Oh Dopheld,” Phasma cajoled. “Armitage will probably come all the way down here himself to study the files if you can help find what we need.”  
“That’s all well and good,” said Dopheld. Kylo felt misery and disappointment flow around him. “But Cardinal had those files purged on Snoke’s orders and Armitage only has eyes for Kylo Ren. He has forgotten me so many times that he thinks I’m some kind of mouse, scurrying around in the basement to fetch files. I’m sorry, Phasma. We’ve been here before and nothing has changed except your recollection of it.”  
Phasma took a deep breath. Kylo walked around the end of the aisle and grabbed the man called Dopheld by the throat and shoved him back against the floor to ceiling storage bay so hard that his hair fell down over his forehead and the back of his head thumped against the polished surface. Kylo glared at him. “This man is lying, Phasma. Not about everything, but he is hiding something.”  
“Kylo Ren!” Dopheld’s eyes bulged and he wheezed the name. His fingers pried at Kylo’s hand and Kylo felt fear shift into desperation and... _relief?_ He released his grip and pinned Dopheld by the arms instead. Dopheld took a few heaving, sucking breaths then looked him in the eyes. “Snoke ordered all those files destroyed. It was his first order after Brendol vanished and left the company to him. But Cardinal kept them. Insurance.”  
“Insurance against what?” demanded Phasma.  
Dopheld looked at her with resignation. “What do you think? He took the originals when he escaped, but I’ve done my own digging. Let me go and I will show you what I think he unearthed.”

Kylo released Dopheld at Phasma’s nod. Dopheld led them through the data storage area to a maintenance control room and, once Phasma and Kylo were safely through the door, he closed it and opened an access panel on the wall. Inside, Kylo saw a jumble of wires. Dopheld switched out a few connections then stood back. “Cardinal taught me that trick. We can talk for a few minutes at most without being overheard. Look, I don’t have proof of anything. For the past two years I have been collecting hunches and scraps of circumstantial evidence that fit like a jigsaw puzzle but with pieces missing and no picture to guide me. Cardinal told me that Brendol had his memories recorded the morning of tha day he died. Armitage—I mean the human Armitage—was part of the procedure. You were there, Phasma. You said before that you’d overheard Brendol talk of preserving all his knowledge and expertise. Forever. So I think he had a replicant body prepared, one that wouldn’t age and could be explained away as... succession. But it rejected his memories and the procedure was halted. Thre was a rumour of a fight. No more Brendol. Armitage acting weird. Phasma with no recollection of the day. Snoke shows up with all the legals and takes over. Orders a data purge and Cardinal runs.”  
Kylo frowned. “Brendol wanted to be immortal, and Armitage objected? Because he wouldn’t inherit? So Armitage... Shit. Armitage told me he’d killed his father. I thought he was just trying to provoke me. But Armitage didn’t inherit. Did he know about Snoke?”  
Dopheld shrugged. “Maybe he was just provoking you. It’s exactly the sort of thing he’d do for attention. Cardinal could tell you more, if he’s still alive. Or director Sloane but she went missing at the same time. Those two were better parents to the real Armitage than Brendol Hux ever was. I don’t know any more than that. I could speculate but...” He sighed and rubbed his neck. “We’ve only got a few more seconds before the security system reboots. Here.” Doph pulled open another panel and thrust his arm deep inside, flesh slipping through a nest of snaking, coloured wires, deeper than his elbow. When he withdrew it, he held a modified datacard between his first and second fingers. He offered this to Phasma. “Take this and don’t get caught. Armitage made it when he first suspected Snoke was a threat. Take Armitage and this memory unit to a hacker called Moradi. Phas, I guarantee she’ll see you.”  
Phasma stared at the datacard without moving to take it. “Doph, who is—“

The door hissed and opened. Two red uniformed guards pointed weapons into the room. Snoke stood behind them.  
“Phasma, are you not supposed to have escorted Kylo Ren to the reconditioning laboratory? I cannot understate my disappointment in your disloyalty. And Dopheld Mitaka. Who would have thought you, a scuttling rodent, capable! I’m afraid Cardinal’s methods are quite ineffective. Your employment is terminated immediately.” He pointed at Dopheld and turned to the guard on his left. “Shoot him.”  
At the same instant Kylo leapt forwards, standing directly in front of Snoke and moving into point-blank range between the guard’s blaster and their target. The guard hesitated then tried to get around Kylo, but Dopheld and his datacard had already vanished into the maze of service conduits behind the walls. Kylo punched the guard, who crumpled to the ground. In his peripheral vision, he saw more guards appear behind Snoke, and Snoke held his weapon in plain sight. Kylo glared at Snoke and demanded, “Where is Armitage?”  
Snoke gave Kylo a cold sneer. He took one step back and spoke to his guards. “Take them both to the reconditioning laboratory.” He smiled at Kylo, cold and calculating, as his weapon delivered a fraction of a second of excruciating pain and binders clipped around his wrists. Kylo grunted and stumbled, mouthing, _No!_  
Snoke’s amused gaze played over Kylo’s anguish as Phasma was similarly incapacitated. “You fool. You are in love with a replicant you only met yesterday and he has been reconditioned, so the last two days never happened for him. Can you believe I once thought my bastard cur of a son could be brought up to be an emotionless, empty vessel, grateful to receive my continued consciousness so that I could bequeath _Snoke Corp_ to myself? Brendol Hux, reigning in the form of his chosen heir. Instead, in the act of failing to murder his own father, he got himself killed. Incompetent. Caused damage that meant I would have to invent this _Snoke_ while I researched how to make my replicant boy more compliant, and improved memory transfer technology so that he could not reject me. I brought him back as a replicant to serve the same purpose, but he _still_ lets me down again and again with breakthroughs of that weak-willed boy and he resists the transfer. I feared this poison-ravaged body might crumble into dust before Armitage was ready to welcome his destiny. But I see I have leverage.” Kylo was shaking his head and his vision blurred. He blinked away tears. Snoke laughed. “Oh yes, Kylo, I want you to witness the instant Armitage understands that I have won _completely._ I think that once I allow him to remember a few more recent events, he will sacrifice himself to save you. He will hate himself for his own weakness, but only for the few minutes I need to take over his pathetic consciousness. So you can be sure that when that soft, pretty mouth orders your deactivation, it will be me who is forming the words.”

Although Kylo and Phasma were both held fast in binders and surrounded by guards, Snoke lifted his weapon again anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to have turned Snoke into a bit of a pantomime villain. Mwahaha and all that.


	7. Reconditioning

“Armitage? Hux? Wait!”  
Hux turned and glared at Dopheld. The smaller man rested his hands on his knees, bent over, out of breath and dishevelled. Hux pointed downwards and circled his fingers. “Don’t you usually scurry around the bowels of our building? In the archive?”  
“Yes.” Dopheld stood up and pushed a splayed hand through his dark, oily hair, plastering the thick strands back from his pink forehead. He blinked rapidly and Hux watched as his eyes roved the corners of the room and his cheeks flushed darker. “Sorry to jump out at you lke that instead of going through proper channels. This is important, I promise. Snoke’s taking Kylo Ren and Phasma for reconditioning but that’s not all he plans. You’re in danger. You’ll be next. He ordered me killed but Kylo Ren bought me time to run.” He huffed and smiled. “I know all the rat-runs in this place.”  
Hux laughed. Dopheld ignored the sharp derision in the sound. “You think I should intervene on Kylo’s behalf? Or Phasma’s? Whatever for. Kylo will go back to his job none the wiser and so will Phasma, and we will all carry on as if nothing happened. I can’t be reconditioned because—”  
“Yes you can. You have been. A few times now.” Dopheld held out the memory module. “That’s why you never remember—“ He cut off his sentence. Hux raised his eyebrows at the unfamiliar vehemence in his tone. Dopheld sighed. “Look, you need to access this. I know someone who can help you.” Hux stared, slack jawed, at Dopheld, who swallowed and held Hux’s gaze, steady for once. “Please, trust me. You have to see that Kylo and Phasma are not reconditioned. You can’t trust Snoke. Take a leap of faith for now, for your own sake, and take this. Do you remember Sloane? Cardinal? Moradi?” Dopheld sighed and sagged at Hux’s confused frown. “Remember their names, Hux. They were important to you. Find them and give them this and then you will understand. Please, trust me. I’m siding with you replicants against Snoke. But whatever you do today, I’m out. I can’t afford to wait and see who wins.”

Hux felt the hard edges of the memory module in his fist as Dopheld vanished back through the access panel he’d slipped out from, and closed it behind him. Hux pushed the datacard into his inside pocket and patted it, then frowned into empty space. After a few seconds, he walked to the elevator and pushed the control for Snoke’s apartment on the top floor. As the elevator began its climb, Hux thought over what Dopheld had revealed. In his position as archivist, Dopheld potentially had access to all the information he cared to snoop through. Mitaka the mouse! Hux laughed at himself and shook his head. Clearly the man lived in a fantasy world. Too much time on his own down there in the dark, poking through data files where he had no business. Yet... Hux felt for the memory module again and frowned. Dopheld Mitaka had nothing to lose or gain from Hux’s trust, and for some undefinable reason, Hux wanted to trust him. He could access the central database and run a search for Sloane, Cardinal and Moradi from the privacy of his own office then pay them a visit, or have them brought to him when he had time. Taking a deep breath, Hux reached for the elevator control. But before he could override its steady upward crawl, it stopped with a lurch that made Hux sway and he staggered into the side wall. The elevator dropped in a descent so rapid that it left Hux queasy. Just as the thought of a quick but painful end flashed across his mind, the emergency brakes engaged with a sudden loud whine from the electromagnetics and a metallic squeal. Rapid deceleration forced Hux to the floor. The elevator door opened and red gauntlets grabbed Hux firmly by both arms.

Light-headed, Hux stumbled. He was supported on both sides and propelled forwards too fast for his feet to regain proper purchase on the floor. He recognised Snoke’s private laboratory area. He remembered having been here rarely, admitted a handful of times to observe and record for Snoke’s research records, and one time to assist in the reconditioning of a replicant who had begged to be allowed to keep her new memories. Snoke had sneered at him for the stab of pity he’d confessed to him afterwards. Despite the years since that incident, Hux recalled Snoke’s reaction with crystal clarity: harsh judgement that spilled from a mouth still firm lipped.  
_”They are not human, Armitage. Not real people like you or me. Your pity and guilt are misplaced and their emotional response is only a display. They are playacting, giving programmed responses to predictable stimuli. A replicant feels no fear, anger or love, and you could not love a replicant any more than you could love your favourite chair.”_  
Even then, in earlier days of Snoke’s replicant research, Hux had suspected this to be a lie.

Hux’s half-conscious musing was curtailed when Snoke’s reconditioning laboratory doors hissed open and he was shoved inside. He fell forwards, no time to get his arms up to save his face from hitting the floor. Sudden pain flared in his nose and he cried out, then pushed up to his hands and knees.  
“Be careful with him!” Snoke’s voice cut through the beeps and whirrs of machinery. Hands pulled him to his feet and something cold and damp was held to his face. He grasped the damp cloth and wiped, wincing at the pain, and he saw bright red blood on the clinical white gauze. Snoke came closer, tilting Hux’s head from side to side with a firm hand on his jaw, examining the injury. “Well. It appears superficial. You will heal well enough for me.” Snoke released Hux and turned to the nearest guard. “Restrain him.”  
“What?” Hux looked around in confusion. Restrained in a reclined position on two side by side examination tables, separated by a red-uniformed guard, lay Kylo Ren and Phasma. Phasma’s eyes were closed and she looked for all the world as if she might be catching up on lost sleep. Kylo’s were open and he locked eyes with Hux for a second before Hux was forced onto the next table and clamps fastened his ankles, wrists and head.  
“Now then,” said Snoke, his face looming above Hux, filling his field of view. “Let’s see how my pet replicant likes getting some memories back.”  
Hux yelled and tried to wriggle free but Snoke ignored his useless protest. He felt growing pressure on his head and his vision dimmed as a helmet with a visor was roughly strapped over his face.

Hux went limp. He could hear the machine relay the regular, fast _du-duh_ of his heartbeat but he could not move. Images, sounds and smells flooded back out of order to add depth and substance to the merest hints of forgotten experiences. Kylo Ren saving him from danger. Kissing Kylo Ren and being rejected. Desperately clinging to Kylo Ren as his final action, in the hope that the experience might remain lodged in some corner of their memories.

“So, my boy Armitage knows what he is and what he’s for.” Snoke’s face leered above him still when the helmet was removed. Snoke’s pale blue, watery eyes bored into Hux. “You will cooperate. I will transfer all my memories into you and I will live on. Snoke will no longer be necessary. Armitage Hux will return as the heir of Brendol Hux, and Snoke Corp will become Hux Corp once more. Only it won’t be the weak-willed boy in control. It will be me. Perhaps _Armitage_ will change his name to _Brendol_ in my honour.” Snoke licked dry, split lips and grinned, yellowed teeth bared in a gesture that made Hux want to retch. Snoke looked to the side slowly then back to Hux. “If you refuse, I will inhabit Kylo Ren instead. When his lips utter the command to kill you, you will know he is aware, listening, helpless to save you.” Snoke laughed. “Perhaps I will do it with my own new hands. You can watch your lover’s cold, hard eyes as he squeezes the simulation of life from your perverted replicant body.”

Hux closed his eyes and shook his head wildly. It took him a few seconds to realise that the sound of wailing came from himself. When he forced himself, with deep, even breaths, to calm and opened his eyes again, Snoke still stood grinning above him.  
“Well then, Armitage. You should have seen to it that you and Phasma killed me outright. There is a certain pleasing symmetry in this that amuses me. You conspired to murder your own father, failed because of your own incompetence, and now your father will take retribution by using your own replicant shell as a replacement for this wasted, rotting body you poisoned. What do you say, Armitage? Accept the transfer and Kylo gets reconditioned and sent back to his old job. Refuse and know that Kylo Ren will live in torment from the instant I force him to watch me extinguish your life with his bare hands.” Snoke came closer. He gripped Hux’s shoulders. “Decide. I will not ask again.”

Armitage focused his eyes behind Snoke for a second. He looked back up at Snoke and spoke through gritted teeth. “I will _never_ let you do this.”

***

Kylo and Phasma exchanged few words on their forced march to Snoke’s laboratory. Phasma fought back physically until incapacitated again by Snoke’s weapon. Kylo watched as she was restrained, head lolling onto her shoulder until one of the guards held her in position for another to fasten the strap that passed over her forehead. Recognising that he could do nothing if he was unconscious, Kylo saved his strength and allowed himself to be strapped in. The guard assigned to him leaned closer to check his restraints and Kylo took the risk of murmuring to her.  
_”You think he’ll let you remember any of this?”_  
The guard hesitated for a fraction of a second then returned to her post. Kylo swivelled his eyes as far as he could towards her.  
_”Even Phasma is with me.”_  
Her head turned and she leaned over to check his head restraint again.  
_”If you’re a replicant you’ll be on this table next. If you’re not he’ll order you killed like the little archive man down in the basement.”_  
Snoke was out of Kylo’s line of sight, but the lies he poured out to Hux were audible. The guard edged closer. _“Doph’s dead? I thought he got away. I would have missed that shot. He was nice to me.”_  
_”So you know it’s true.”_  
A barely perceptible nod showed Kylo that the guard understood. While Snoke was still crowing over Hux, the guard slowly slipped her hand across the control panel at the side of Kylo’s table and Kylo felt the tightness of the restraints ease. The guard sidled over to Phasma and released the lock on her restraints too while the rest were focused on Snoke.

Kylo counted three then exploded into action. He shot out of his restraints and barrelled into Snoke, knocking him off Hux and bodily pinning him to the floor. Kylo’s body stiffened and he writhed in pain, but Snoke remained trapped beneath him. Kylo’s hand found Snoke’s, wrapped around his pain-inducing weapon, and he brought his fist down hard. Kylo’s pain ceased and Snoke screamed. Kylo brought his fist down again, feeling the fragile phalanges and metacarpals of Snoke’s hand shatter under the impact. The third blow made the palm-sized weapon spark and smoke.

Around Kylo and Snoke, two guards loyal to Snoke battled four guards loyal to Phasma until Phasma stood supported by the one who’d loosened her restraints, helmets off and faces reddened with exertion. Phasma released Hux, and Hux leapt over to where Kylo lay with his forearm leaning on Snoke’s neck. Scant breath wheezed from between blue-tinged lips and Snoke’s eyes stared out, sclera already reddening. Snoke struggled feebly an dKylo made to lean in harder but Hux shoved Kylo off with a yell. As soon as Kylo rolled clear of Snoke, Hux aimed a heavy kick at Snoke’s head. Kylo watched in voyeuristic horror as Hux kicked again and again, cursing Brendol Hux with every blow, until Phasma pulled him off and shook him like a rag doll.

In the absence of raised voices, familiar beeps, clicks and whirrs of machinery and the violence of the fight, silence felt strange, broken only by Hux’s laboured breathing. “Leave it, Hux. He’s dead,” said Phasma quietly. She kept Hux’s face turned to hers with a hand on each side of his head while Kylo checked Snoke’s battered carcass for breathing and for a pulse. Kylo shook his head at Phasma. Phasma quirked an eyebrow.  
“Snoke’s dead.” Kylo stood up. The guard who had helped Phasma moved to drag him away to join the two guards who had remained loyal to him, but Hux held up a hand.  
“Stop.” He shook Phasma off. “I’ll do that.”  
Kylo stood back and watched as Hux brought over a gurney. The guard helped Hux haul Snoke’s body onto it and cover it with a sheet. Here and there, dark blood seeped through and stained the white fabric.  
“Right.” Hux looked at Phasma. “Incinerator. You with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split the final chapter into two so that the length matched the other chapters better and there wasn’t a massive shift in tone halfway through. So there is still one more chapter to go :P


	8. Who we are

Kylo thought he would never get clean. Hux had ordered that all of Snoke’s personal effects should follow him into the waste incinerator and while Hux supervised that task, Kylo scrubbed again and again in the bathroom adjoining Hux’s bedroom. When he finally emerged, he was red-skinned with water droplets clinging precariously to the ends of his hair until a head movement dislodged them to fall as rivulets down his shoulders and back. Hux waited with a med kit. Kylo clutched his towel around his waist with his uninjured hand.  
“I will see to your hand.”  
“It’s fine.” Kylo hid his injured hand, fresh bruises over old and still swollen from before, behind his back.  
“Humour me, Kylo. I’ve done this before.”  
Hux moved to the bed, sat down and patted the space beside him. Kylo hesitated then sat as directed, holding his hand out for Hux to pad and bandage with white crepe.  
“What do you remember?” asked Kylo. “I mean...”  
“About us?” asked Hux. Kylo nodded. “I remember you came to investigate my status. I remember feeling safe with you even though I knew I should feel threatened, and I goaded you, wanting to make you feel something for me. Anything other than professional disinterest. I remember _being_ in love but not _falling_ in love with you.” Hux paused and looked into Kylo’s eyes. “I remember you took me home to your place and you cared for me. We were... intimate. Then, and again right before they took it all away from me. I want it back, Kylo. All of it.”  
“Oh.” Kylo chewed his lip. He stood up and paced. Hux smiled a little sadly.  
“Maybe you regret doing what I asked you to do. It was selfish, but I’m like that. Take me out of my head, Kylo. Distract me from thinking about the consequences of my actions, Kylo. Give me a comforting memory to hold on to, Kylo. It’s okay, I’ll probably get over it.” Hux sighed deeply. “You know, there’s probably a memory module with your name on it stashed somewhere in the archives. If we could find Dopheld, we might have a chance of getting your—“ Hux looked away. “Getting _Ben Solo’s_ memories back as well as more recent ones from your reconditioning.”  
Kylo shook his head. “I don’t think I want that,” he said. “It’s different for you, I guess, but I know who I am now, in this moment, and I do not want anyone else messing around up here.” He pointed to his head with his good hand, then sat beside Hux again. “And my only regret is my arrogance in telling you I could never be attracted to a replicant. I was, you know. Very much. It scared me to feel that, to feel so strongly for someone.”  
“Well then,” said Hux. “Good thing replicants can’t experience love or we’d both be screwed.”  
Kylo stared, open mouthed, until Hux laughed and told him to put on some clean clothes.

Kylo dressed in garments that would have been loose on Hux’s spare frame but stretched taut across his shoulders. They met with Phasma and the guard who had helped them, introduced by Phasma as Unamo, newly promoted to Head of Security. Snoke Corp’s legal team, summoned by Hux, arrived promptly in Snoke’s private conference room to join them. The coroner and the magistrate who were assigned to the delicate task of investigating Snoke’s death—quickly and without fuss—shuffled nervously in their seats.

Once all settled, statements were shared and the official conclusion was agreed to be that Snoke’s demise—witnessed by four people whose statements agreed as much as could be hoped but not so closely that anyone might cry _collusion—_ was attributed to a tragic accident whilst conducting private research. The conditions of Brendol Hux’s will clearly stated that in the event of Snoke’s death all of his estate and business interests would pass to Brendol’s son, Armitage. Only one thing stood in the way of his inheritance. The coroner nodded to the magistrate, who peered at Kylo, her face a little pink with embarrassment.  
“I apologise that we have to ask difficult questions. Mister Ren, isn’t it? You have an excellent record in identifying rogue replicants and advanced models more sophisticated than is allowed under current legislation. Tell me about your most recent case.”  
Kylo sat more upright and leaned forward, hands clasped beside his papers on the dark, glossy table. “Snoke called me in to investigate rumours about Armitage Hux,” he said, tone flat. He made eye contact with the magistrate. ”Snoke thought that some unnamed rival was trying to remove Hux from a senior position in this, his father’s, company. Despite the old man’s paranoia, had Armitage turned out to be a replicant, or even if the rumours had stuck, it would have left Snoke Corp in a vulnerable position for a takeover.”  
“Really?” The magistrate sat back. Kylo mirrored her action. “You think it was a ploy to drive down SnokeCorp’s share price? Describe your investigation.”  
“I performed standard tests on Armitage and my results were initially inconclusive due to his, um, naturally abrasive and reticent personality. I asked Snoke to allow me to take Armitage away for further investigation on neutral territory to confirm his status. I did this and with Armitage’s consent I can share my final report with you.”  
Kylo slid a thick document across the table. The magistrate glanced at it, flicking through pages of small, dense text.  
“Just tell me. Is he human or replicant?”  
“Armitage Hux is as human as you and I, ma’am.”  
“Well.” The magistrate’s face darkened for a second and she turned to the coroner. “I have no further concerns. You?”  
The coroner shook his head.

Later, undressing each other slowly in Hux’s bedroom, Kylo retrieved the memory module with Hux’s old life stored on it from Hux’s pocket before dropping his jacket on the floor, and set it reverently on the side table.   
Hux watched. “It’s not one of our own designs,” he said. “At least, I don’t recognise it. If I did I could have it uploaded here.”  
Kylo turned and gave him a serious look. “Tomorrow we can find Moradi the hacker like Dopheld said we should. Get you your life back.”  
“Mmhmm.” Hux nodded. “And find out who the hell Cardinal and Sloane are, or were, and why I should know them. And why I need a hacker to access my own memories. I suppose that must be in there too.”   
Hux pointed at the memory module. Kylo silently came back close enough for Hux to take his shirt off him, bending to let Hux pull it over his head. He shook out his hair afterwards and pushed his hands through the waves, just because Hux liked to see the way the muscles in his arms and torso moved beneath his skin. Hux looked up at him. “Aren’t you interested in Ben Solo?”  
“No,” said Kylo with a shrug. “Ben Solo died. I’m not him and I don’t want to be. The family in those photographs is not really mine. They’ll be long gone, or done mourning the boy they lost. I wonder if I really ever was Ben Solo, but it doesn’t matter.” He pulled the hems of Hux’s trousers when offered, sliding them off to reveal pale, slender legs. Kylo grinned and blew across the short, red-gold hairs on Hux’s shins until Hux laughed and kicked him off.  
“So if you’re not Ben Solo and never were, who am I about to invite to indulge in acts of physical pleasure?”  
Kylo shrugged again. “Me, I hope. Hi, I’m Kylo Ren.”  
“Well,” said Hux. “Hurry up and get naked, Kylo Ren.”

Laughing, they finished undressing themselves quickly. Hux shuffled backwards onto his bed with Kylo prowling on all fours after him. Kylo settled on top of Hux and kissed him softly, but Hux thrust both hands, fingers wide, into Kylo’s hair and pulled him into something ferocious, deep and wild, that made Kylo’s half-hard cock respond by filling out further. Kylo moaned through the kiss and Hux let him go.  
“Too much?”  
“No! No,” said Kylo, smiling. “I thought you’d want—“  
“We can indulge in something with more _finesse_ later. Right now I want to ride you fast and hard.”  
Kylo’s face warmed at the image Hux’s confident demand conjured up in his mind. Desire coiled hot in his groin and he let Hux push him over onto his back and straddle him, a thrill shooting through his core from accidental contact. Hux reached for the lube in his nightstand and handed it to Kylo.  
“You know what to do, right? You didn’t forget how to—“  
“Forget how to fuck?” Kylo laughed. “That’s a game we can save for another day.”  
Hux shifted up a little and Kylo used lubed fingers, spurred on by Hux’s command to _get on with it I won’t break,_ until Hux said, “enough,” and stilled Kylo with a hand flat on his chest. Kylo slicked his cock and held the base for Hux to position himself then sink down, eyes closed, uttering a hitched gasp as he did so. Hux opened his eyes and smiled at Kylo, leaning down for a gentle kiss.  
“I want you.”  
“You’ve got me,” replied Kylo. “Always.”

Hux went slowly at first, shallow and careful, until Kylo picked up the rhythm and thrust up to meet his downward movements. With both hands flat on Kylo’s warm, solid chest, knees gripping for stability, Hux allowed his head to sag forward. He let out the softest moan every time Kylo’s cock brushed over just the right spot inside him, and he angled his hips to increase the thrust and drag that made his whole groin tingle and his brain lose focus. Before he even knew he needed it, Kylo’s hand wrapped around his cock and moved in time with his thrusts. Kylo, Hux decided in that moment, was perfect as he was. Seconds later, pleasure chased higher and higher, and Hux opened his eyes to see Kylo with his lower lip champed between white teeth and his eyes closed, head pressed back into the pillow, sucking shallow breaths through his nose. Holding back, Hux realised, as a wave of pleasure rolled and crashed over him and he came, white droplets landing on Kylo’s chest and neck. With a few more thrusts, Kylo cried out, breathing harder and laughing.

Hux waited for a minute then eased himself up and off, flopping onto his side next to Kylo and wiping him clean with his discarded shirt before snuggling closer and wrapping a pale arm across Kylo’s broad chest. Hux caressed Kylo’s shoulder, sighed and kissed the bulge of Kylo’s deltoid muscle. Kylo turned his head and kissed the top of Hux’s head.  
“You’re feeling thoughtful,” said Kylo.  
“I was wondering.” Hux sighed again. “What if Armitage Hux—I mean the contents of that memory module—wasn’t much like me? What if I get all those memories restored and... and I feel like someone else? What if I’m suddenly someone different?”  
Kylo lay still. “You would be someone different. Isn’t that the point? Be your whole self again?”  
“But what if—“ Hux sat up, wriggling at the slight discomfort caused by their recent activity. “What if I’m _very_ different. I mean, what if it wasn’t _that_ Armitage Hux who met and fell for Kylo Ren? What if _that_ Hux wanted Ben Solo?”  
Kylo frowned and sat up too. He looked into Hux’s deep green-grey eyes, a brief flash of amber too behind his irises in the half-light. “Are you saying you want me to recover Ben Solo’s memories?”  
“No!” Hux put a hand on Kylo’s cheek. “You made your decision and I... I agree with it. I feel like I know Kylo Ren. I love you as Kylo Ren. All I know of Ben Solo comes from... I don’t know. He’s like a figure in a dream right before you forget it. I want you to stay who you are now. But I don’t want...”  
Kylo wrapped his arms around Hux. Hux rested his head on Kylo’s shoulder.  
“You can be whoever you decide to be,” said Kylo quietly. “I love you. I don’t know who this other Armitage Hux is at all.”

Armitage rose from the bed and picked up the memory module from the table. He weighed it in his hand then looked at Kylo. “What would Kylo Ren do?”  
Kylo smiled. “Let the past die, Hux. Kill it if you have to. It’s time to accept yourself for who you are.”  
Hux smiled back. He bent down and slipped the memory module under one of the back legs of his bedroom chair then sat down on it heavily. The fragile datacard cracked and sparked. Hux got up and plucked the fragments one by one from the floor, dropping them into the wastebasket, then came back to bed.  
“Kylo?”  
“Mmhmm?”  
“Make me never regret I did that.”  
Kylo smiled warmly at Hux and kissed him. “I will,” he promised. “Every day.”


End file.
